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Just a quick update for everyone experiencing this issue - the Department of Education announced yesterday that they're dedicating additional resources to clear the backlog of SAI calculations for applications with self-initiated corrections. They're prioritizing applications where the correction was processed more than 10 business days ago, so you should see movement soon. You can check the FSA social media accounts for the announcement.
That's actually good news! Just checked their Twitter and saw the announcement. Hopefully this means mine will be processed soon without me having to spend hours trying to get through on the phone.
My daughter had this issue last month and what worked for us was going back into the FAFSA and clicking "Make FAFSA Correction" even though there wasn't anything to correct. We just went through each page, didn't change anything, and resubmitted. Somehow this "pushed" the application through the system and her SAI showed up 2 days later. Might be worth trying!
That's a really interesting workaround! I'm a bit nervous about making any changes since the DoE already initiated their own correction, but at this point I might try anything. Did you have to re-sign with the FSA ID when you resubmitted?
Yes, both my daughter and I had to re-sign with our FSA IDs even though we didn't make any actual changes. I think that's what triggered the system to take another look at the application. It was completely stuck before that.
Has anyone found that certain browsers work better for checking FAFSA status? I remember last year we couldn't see our processed SAI in Chrome but when we switched to Firefox it magically appeared. Maybe check using a different browser just in case?
omg YES!!!! safari was showing "processing" for my sons application for 2 weeks and when i tried on edge it showed the SAI had been there for days!!! definitely try different browsers
I've only been checking on my phone... I'll try on my laptop with a different browser tonight. Thank you for the tip!
Just checking back - did your SAI ever show up? I'm curious because my nephew just submitted his FAFSA and we're trying to gauge timing expectations.
Yes! It actually came in this morning - so 5 business days total. And you won't believe this, but when I tried checking on my laptop with Firefox instead of my phone app, I saw the SAI was there even though my phone was still showing "processing"! So the browser suggestion was spot on.
UGHHH why do they make this so COMPLICATED??? I've been trying to figure out why my son's application keeps saying "missing parent signature" for TWO WEEKS!!! The whole parent portal thing is so confusing - do we need to manage our own separate accounts or not?? And don't even get me started on the contributor questions...my ex-husband refuses to participate and there's no clear guidance on what to do when a parent won't cooperate. This whole system feels designed to prevent students from getting financial aid.
For non-cooperative parents, you should look into a Dependency Override. While divorce itself doesn't qualify, if you can document that the parent refuses to provide information, some schools may consider special circumstances. Each college handles these differently, so contact the financial aid offices directly at each school your son is applying to.
Thank you so much! Will definitely call the schools. And I'll try logging into my son's account tonight to see if I can finally get this signature issue fixed.
OMG the relief when that "submitted" confirmation finally appeared! I literally started crying. This year's FAFSA has been so much more stressful than previous years - all the new changes with the SAI replacing EFC, the contributor portal confusion, everything. At least we're done now. Fingers crossed for a good aid package! 🤞
also dont stress too much first time i filled my fafsa out i made mistakes and was able to go back and fix them later. its not the end of the world if u mess up something
One final piece of advice - don't pay anyone to complete your FAFSA. There are scams out there that charge fees for "guaranteed aid" or "special access" to scholarships. The FAFSA is always free to complete (that's what the first F stands for - Free Application for Federal Student Aid). If you need help, reach out to your high school counselor or the financial aid office at colleges you're applying to - they provide assistance at no cost.
Thanks for the warning! My mom actually mentioned some service she heard about that charges $80 to fill it out for you. I'll let her know that's not necessary. You all have been so helpful - I feel much more prepared now!
Emily Nguyen-Smith
Update on my situation - my corrections finally processed after 12 days total, and I noticed something weird. The first school I added showed up in my account right away, but the other two took an extra day to appear. So you might want to check again in 24 hours after you first see movement in your account.
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Edison Estevez
•That's really helpful to know! I'll keep checking daily. Did you get any email notification when it processed or did you just have to keep logging in to check?
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Sophia Rodriguez
This whole 2025-2026 FAFSA rollout has been a mess! My nephew's corrections took 2 weeks, my daughter's took 9 days, and my corrections took 4 days. There's ZERO consistency. The financial aid officers at my daughter's college said they're all struggling with the new system too and getting very little guidance from the Dept of Education.
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James Johnson
•You're right that there's been inconsistency, but it's improving. The Department of Education has added resources to address the backlog, and processing times for simple corrections are starting to stabilize. For anyone reading this thread later, the expected timeframe should be more predictable by late summer.
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